With summer approaching, Madison will create three new free meal sites to help students reliant on school food programs, and their families.  

According to a statement from Mayor Paul Soglin, REAP Food Group, Madison Metropolitan School District, the City of Madison, Madison Parks, Public Health Madison & Dane County and Midvale Baptist Church are adding three meal sites to the more than 40 sites already established in the city. Elver Park, Lake View and Leopold Elementary Schools will be serving free meals to children and accompanying adults over the summer.

Mark Woulf, Food and Alcohol Policy director for Madison, said the current free meal sites are underutilized by children and families and hopes the creation of three new sites will not only increase the number of people the city serves, but spread awareness that they exist.

“In Madison, just slightly under 50 percent of children in the school district are on free and reduced lunch,” Woulf said.

Woulf said federal programs — including the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs — reimburse Madison for the funding it spends on the programs, which help students who are eligible for free meals through schools.

Jennifer Gaddis, civil society and community studies assistant professor, said children who are participating in meal programs are typically children from low income families who struggle to afford food. These families in Madison, in particular, are disproportionately children from communities of color, Gaddis said.  

During the school year, children may be dependent on their school lunch programs for most meals, but during the summer, these opportunities for free meals are not guaranteed, Gaddis said.

“For some of the most economically disadvantaged people, it is really important that their kids have access to these meals [during the summer months], because [the parents’] wages aren’t increasing during the summer months,” Gaddis said.

The three new sites will also be providing meals to adults that accompany children, Woulf said. Including families in the meal program will help develop communities at the sites, he added.

National meal programs only fund meals for children age 18 and under, but a combination of funders, including the City of Madison and REAP Food Group, will help provide the funding needed for parents and caregivers, Woulf said.

“[The City of Madison] hopes that if the program demonstrates success, it will interest other funders to expand to summer meal program at other sites,” Woulf said.

With additional meal sites and more attention on opportunities for free meals, there will be an increase in usage of the program, Woulf said, and if these sites become community sites, the city will be able to expand the program to additional locations across the city.

There will be a summer meal kickoff event June 20 at Elver Park starting at 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.